June 13th 2024 marked the end of Raptors EC. Known throughout UK CS for their remarkable 2023 run when they were crowned champions of EPIC 40, ESL UK Premiership Autumn 2023 and United21 Season 3. After finishing third in the recent UKIC season, the loss of such a prominent organisation has left a void in the UK scene.
Since 2023, Raptors have often struggled to find stability within the UK CS scene. This former Coalesce roster showed impressive form, gaining promotion to ESEA Advanced in season 48. Adam “AdamJC” Colwell joined the team later on following his tenure at The Last Resort after they failed to gain promotion to Advanced replacing Matthew ‘Moz‘ Gelder.
The abrupt end of Raptors’ journey raises concerns about the sustainability of esports organisations in the UK. When asked about these issues within the UK CS, Ethan “Smithy” Smith offered:
I think for us it partly came down to our decisions with picking up new rosters after our successful mid 2023 run. Unfortunately we were quite unlucky and didn’t have much stability with constant roster changes and players coming and going we found it hard to pick up momentum. Most of the time it was well communicated, other times we were left confused but we just let the captain and coach get on with it as they sort of have an idea in mind on what’s best for the team. I think it would be nice to see teams stay together for more than 2-3 months at a time to see where they get, much like the likes of ‘verdant’ with their roster which has been very consistent.
The news came at quick a shock, to both fans and the organisation, when the CS team representing Raptors announced their own choice to disband.
After 9 months together as a core, I’ve decided to part ways with the boys. It’s been quite a journey with ups and downs but proud of what we achieved.
It means I’ll be LFT for the time being, no idea what is to come, but time will tell. Open to all offers. pic.twitter.com/ubaabDI18U
— Tony (@BehinDxcs) June 13, 2024
Despite making playoffs in the UKIC Season 2, only three of the ex-Raptors roster (Michael John ‘Prime‘ Fury, William ‘wfn‘ Maskrey and Karrar ‘Karrar‘ Almayali) will continue on in ESEA Advanced with former teammate Matthew ‘Moz‘ Gelder helping to fill in for the absent Adam ‘AdamJC’ Colwell. The latter has chosen to leave the competitive scene for the time being.
Running an esports organisation is tough at the best of times and with the current state of UK esports it seems as hopeless for grassroot teams to succeed.
Unfortunately with us after our previous CS2 roster decided to split, it was our final straw. We loved everything about what we did with Raptors, and everything we accomplished. I think when it comes to running an esports org you have to be so dedicated, which we all were, very passion fuelled but I think we’d been that unlucky with some things we kind of just lost that passion and some things became more of a task when it was once something we loved which is not how we wanted it to be at all. I wouldn’t change our journey for the world, we got to work with and meet some amazing people, but unfortunately I think that’s it for Raptors EC.
Despite the premature end for a once promising team, Ethan Smith looked back on the time spent with kind (and possibly teary) eyes.
I would like to thank my fellow Raptors colleagues and brothers. It’s quite a difficult thing to do running an esports organisation and I don’t think the people who run them get enough praise (as long as it’s ran correctly). Learning new skills dedication and sacrificing time, money and effort to do something you love. As I said before I wouldn’t change it for the world though.
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